Kitchen cookware has enjoyed many transitions over the centuries thanks to new materials becoming affordable and more mainstream. Archeological discoveries suggest clay pottery was instrumental in cooking from the Stone Age onwards. By the 17th century it was common for a kitchen to contain cookware cast from iron or bronze. These materials made way for the lighter and more practical stainless steel and aluminium cookware. With the introduction of revolutionary Teflon and other non-stick coatings, we had never had it so easy in the kitchen. Now is the turn of another innovative cooking material.
Silicone cookware has had a dramatic surge in popularity in recent years and now populates many kitchens and cookware shops across the globe. Many manufacturers of bakeware or kitchen utensils now have a range of silicone based products to compliment their collections. The reason behind the rise in awareness and popularity of Silicone Kitchenware lies in its long list of advantages and minimal drawbacks which we will look at in a moment. However with so many manufacturers producing silicone cooking instruments to keep up with demand, it is important to wean out the quality from those who cut corners.
Silicone cookware draws on one of its advantages (and coincidentally one of its disadvantages) - its flexibility - for its success. You can also use this feature to determine whether the item is 100% silicone or if it contains "filler" as do many low quality silicone products. By twisting the silicone check the ridges for signs of white stretching which indicates that filling materials have been used. If the colour remains constant, you have in your hands some high quality silicone! This initial check is important for several reasons besides checking you are getting what you pay for:
• Although 100% silicone is non-stick, these filling materials may not be. All the time and effort you put into baking the perfect cakes (and indeed the reason you selected silicone in the first place) may be in vein if the baked goods stick to the pan due to these fillers.
• 100% silicone is heat resistant to over 300 degrees centigrade (well above normal cooking temperatures). It will not give off odours, discolour or compromise its integrity. However the same cannot be said for the filling material.
• Silicone, in its limited research, is not dangerous to the use or the environment in any way but who knows what other materials have gone into non 100% silicone produtcs? Particularly if subjected to heat, cooking ingredients, food acids etc...
Be under no illusion that quality silicone will cost more than wooden or metal utensils but should be considered an investment that will stand the test of time whether only occasionally used in a domestic kitchen or extensively in professional kitchens.
Did you know?
Silicone is a very common element found in rocks and sand and makes up approximately 28% of the Earth's crust.
Advantages of Silicone Cookware
• Silicone is a non-stick material. The bane of all chefs' lives is the clean-up stage, scrubbing pots and pans, disposing of waste and sanitising work surfaces. Thankfully the cleanup-friendly properties of silicone ease this task. Perhaps the most obvious is the fact that silicone is non-stick. This means food will not get left baked on and crumbs easily brush off. Secondly, thanks to the flexible construction, any food caught in crevices can be removed by inverting the silicone. For those of us lucky (or lazy) enough to own dishwashers, silicone is perfectly safe and as an additional benefit, will not damage other cookware by clattering around thanks to its soft texture.
• Silicone can withstand varying temperatures. Perfect for storing food in the freezer and equally perfect for cooking in the oven, Silicone outshines other materials by absorbing the shock of varying temperatures without any physical damage. Where other materials may warp or deform when subjected to excessive temperature change, silicone does not. As the non-stick element is not simply a coating, it is impossible to flake of as with some cheaper metal cookware and bakeware items. This negates the need for using multiple products to prepare, store and cook - saving you money, cleanup time and storage space.
• Silicone cookware conducts heat very slowly meaning kitchen tops and surfaces are safe from burn marks...as is the user! Silicone is perfect for manufacturing oven gloves and grips for this reason. Utensils will always be cool to the touch no matter how long they have been sitting in that saucepan!
• Silicone does not degrade over time. It is impervious to rusting or staining from food colourants unlike wood making it perfect for cooking utensils. It shares the same sanitary benefits as stainless steel but with reduced heat conduction.
• Easy Storage - Thanks to its flexibility it can be folded or squeezed into tight or restricted spaces, it will scratch or damage other products within the same storage space due to its soft surfaces. Perhaps most importantly to the consumer is the versatility of these products, as highlighted in this section, mean that fewer products are needed in the first place cluttering up your kitchen whilst you are keeping your hands out of your pockets.
• Silicone utensils are perfect for use on non-stick surfaces as their soft features will not scratch and remove the coated surfaces that lead to the demise of the pan.
• Silicone kitchenware is now used in professional and home kitchens the world over. Their ever-increasing popularity influences manufacturers in the kitchen industry to develop more and more silicone based kitchenware with clever designs in a broad spectrum of colours. This means finding the right colour scheme or adding to your existing collection couldn't be easier.
• Other advantages include long life, lightweight and even recyclable! Yup, food grade silicone is recyclable at many outlets across the UK and indeed the world.
Disadvantages of Silicone Cookware
• Along with all the advantages listed above there is the inevitable increase in price. For example a basic wooden cooking spoon may set you back 1-2 whereas a silicone cooking spoon of the same dimensions, you could look to spend between 5-8. This inflated cost must be factored in when you are kitting out the kitchen but so does the longevity of the product. Buying silicone kitchenware is an investment
• Silicone ovenware may become more flexible when heated. As any poly-based materials heat up, much of the initial sturdiness is lost. You can combat this by sitting the silicone on a baking tray but this takes away many of the great plus-points about silicone cookware.
• Knives and sharp utensils can cut and pierce the rubbery silicone. Great care must be taken when using sharp instruments around silicone.
• As touched on above, some manufacturers get away with supplying poor quality silicone products containing other materials. Great care must be taken when shopping for silicone.
• Silicone is non-biodegradable which could cause problems in the environment later on if not properly disposed of. Silicone recycling centers operate around the globe to help reduce harmful waste.
To sum up, despite some of its disadvantages, silicone cookware is becoming more widely available in specialist cookware shops and on the internet and thanks to brightly coloured, intuitive and imaginative designs, more and more modern kitchens around the world are embracing the colour revolution.
